Greetings readers! I hope all of you enjoyed the previous stories!
This is the first one-shot in a series of one-shots and it directly follows the events of the previous two books. If you have landed on this one-shot by chance, please read the first two stories or else this one shot won't make any sense and it will also spoil the two stories. Both are thirty chapters each and have around 389K+ words put together, so give them a try! The stories are:
The Tale Of Perseus: Beginnings(Book 1)
The Tale of Perseus: The Trojan War(Book 2)
If you have already read the first two books, I hope you enjoy this one-shot. This one is the first in a series of one-shots that will be coming out before the third and final installment of the trilogy is out.
All credit for the characters goes exclusively to Rick Riordan.
Damasen was tending to his kelp fields that were on the outskirts of the city of Pearl. When his father had possessed his brother Orion, Percy had offered him protection under the sea and suffice to say, it was the best thing that had ever happened to Damasen. And he would forever be grateful to Percy for giving him the opportunity to live a life of peace.
Percy was a hero in every imaginable way. His power eclipsed everyone except his father and uncles and his tactical brilliance was only matched by Lady Athena. And he was undoubtedly the greatest and most skilled swordsman Damasen had ever seen in his life. But it was his simple yet virtuous nature that had garnered Damasen's respect.
Percy had been under no obligation to protect him from his father's wrath but he had done it without even thinking twice just because he didn't want Damasen to be manipulated by his father. It was an unheard of act of benevolence, to a potential enemy nonetheless.
Not only that, Percy had also given him the chance to live a normal, peaceful and undisturbed life. Percy had given him shelter in his undersea metropolis Pearl and had even used the Mist and a few spells to make Damasen look and feel like a minor sea god.
Gone were his drakon-skin clothes, draconian legs and bushy rust-coloured hair and beard. Instead, he now sported a clean shaven face and had jet black hair, along with wearing simple white robes. He even stood at a height of only six and a half feet. The illusion was so powerful that he himself had to fully concentrate on his reflection in the mirror to see his true appearance. And this new face had given him a new life.
Mortal mermen were no longer afraid of him, rather, they treated him with respect wherever he went which he gladly reciprocated. This appearance had allowed him to settle down as a farmer and he grew kelp on his large farmlands and raised sea cows on his pastures. For other immortals, this would have been a mundane life but for Damasen, it was perfect.
Away from conflict, away from strife, away from war and close to nature, it was the life he had always dreamt of and until it had been given to him, he had never believed it would be his. His thoughts were interrupted when Rhode materialised in front of him.
"Lady Rhode, it's an honour to meet you." Damasen respectfully stated with a bow.
"There is no need for honourifics Damasen, my brother considered you to be his friend. Think of me more as a good acquaintance." Rhode stated with a sad smile.
"Considered? Forgive me for being rude, but could you explain that?" Damasen confusedly questioned and Rhode's face fell immediately.
"That is why I am here Damasen. A few weeks ago, we were attacked by your father who had taken a physical form and he attacked us with the help of your newly sired younger brother Typhon, who was a near invincible and humongous storm giant. We won the ensuing titanic struggle but in the process, we lost my brother. He sacrificed himself to destroy your father's physical form." Rhode stated, fighting to hold back tears.
Damasen was speechless. He could not find any words. He didn't know what to do or say. And he felt a wave of sorrow wash over him. The only immortal to ever show him sympathy and befriend him, had sacrificed himself to kill Tartarus, the Protogenos of the Abyss and his accursed father.
"Is he really gone?" Damasen questioned.
"As much as I would like to say no, I am afraid Perseus Diaboles is not with us anymore. His immortal essence has been scattered to a degree where it's impossible for it to ever meaningfully coalesce again. Even if his body is invulnerable and thus, incapable of decay, he has no heartbeat." Rhode stated with a distant, sombre look in her eyes.
"I am very sorry for your loss. Percy truly was the greatest hero to ever walk this planet. That explains why there was so much unrest in the sea." Damasen stated with his head held down.
"We spent a few weeks mourning him before I realised that we had to inform you. And I didn't want to convey this information in a scroll." Rhode stated.
"Thank you for coming all the way here to convey this message." Damasen politely thanked.
"My brother believed you were his friend Damasen. And he told that you had provided him critical insights whenever required. This was the least I could do. You deserved to know." Rhode stated with a small smile.
"The world will never forget him. Even if it doesn't see him anymore, he has left his mark on it and changed it for the better." Damasen solemnly stated and Rhode softly nodded at him.
"I shall take my leave Damasen." Rhode stated before disappearing in a blue mist, leaving Damasen alone with his thoughts. As he digested this shocking and painful bit of information, he remembered the last time Perseus had visited him.
It had been business as usual for Damasen. He had sent another shipment of freshly harvested kelp to Atlantis and with the money he had gotten in return, he had bought a few accessories for his home and some fodder for his sea cows.
He had just finished shopping in Pearl's vibrant market district and was back in his home, a gift by Percy. Built with a few sturdy materials in a simple, non-extravagant way, it was a humble abode but he loved it. Just as he redecorated his house with a few beautiful seashells, he sensed Percy's presence outside his house. And he was not at all surprised.
Ever since Percy had resettled him, the Prince of Atlantis had visited his house every time he came to Pearl, almost on a monthly basis. He seemed to love the kelp soup Damasen made and the two of them shared a friendly chat over a bowl of kelp soup every time the Champion of Olympus visited. He had been expecting Percy today and opened his door to greet the Hero of Olympus.
"Percy, come in. I was expecting you." Damasen invited and moved towards his kitchen.
"I am here for your kelp soup. It's taste is unbelievable, even after giving them the recipe, the cooks in the Royal Palace are unable to recreate it." Percy stated after sitting down on one of the cushioned chairs.
"Give them a break. They are probably not used to making anything that doesn't contain Ambrosia or Nectar." Damasen stated while stirring the cauldron of soup that was on a bonfire. The inside of his house was in an air bubble to deter any unwanted undersea visitors.
"You are right. Maybe I should hire a mortal cook from the surface world, I heard they make many delicacies." Percy mused.
"You could give it a try. But I thought gods aren't that interested in mortal foods because it doesn't provide them with enough energy." Damasen replied.
"That's there. We need to eat a lot of Nectar and Ambrosia just to maintain this level of energy. The essences of most gods are dispersed in their domains and just concentrating such a large part of it takes a humongous amount of energy. Nowadays, if I don't eat enough Nectar and Ambrosia, even I start losing some power. Who knew that having an immortal essence would force you to eat so much." Percy stated with a chuckle.
"It's a good thing I don't have this problem. My parents took away all my metaphysical abilities when I left so I don't have to maintain my essence in any way." Damasen smoothly stated.
"You had crappy parents. They take the wreath for being the worst parents possible." Percy stated with a small sneer.
"Undoubtedly." Damasen stated with a similar expression.
"Forget about that. I have something for you." Percy stated and with a snap of his fingers, an ornately designed flower vase materialised next to Damasen. Damasen was a bit surprised at this.
"How did you know I was searching for a flower vase?" Damasen questioned.
"You mentioned that you were searching for one the last time both of us had a chat. I had some time to kill so I decided to make one myself." Percy casually stated.
"I didn't know you could engrave so well." Damasen stated in an impressed voice.
"Despite what the legends say, I am good at things other than destroying as well." Percy joked.
"I am aware of that. You are responsible for turning Pearl into a sprawling metropolis. But I was not aware that engraving was one of your countless talents." Damasen answered.
"Have a look at it Damasen. And tell me if you want something else added to it." Percy gestured.
Damasen picked up the vase and was instantly mesmerized by it. It had been carved from a marvelous cyan coloured marble and vivid flowers had been sculpted into the vase and the flowers had been painted with captivating colours to mesmerize anyone who laid eyes on the vase.
"I know it's a bit extravagant and you would like something more low-key, but I thought that you would like it." Percy stated with a small smile.
"It is magnificent. It will go very well with the sea tulips in my garden." Damasen stated with excitement before noticing that the soup was ready.
He then took out a simple bronze bowl and poured a ladle full of kelp soup into it before handing it to Percy, who graciously accepted it. Once that was done, he poured a ladle full of soup for himself and sat down opposite to Percy and they ate in silence. Once they were done, Percy spoke.
"As always, a great bowl of soup. But I am afraid that it will be a very long time before I will be eating this soup or visiting you." Percy stated with a disappointed sigh.
"What's the matter? Some new threat? Is it my father?" Damasen questioned with some concern.
"No, scar face has been very inactive recently. The problem is that on the surface world, one mortal prince eloped with the wife of another mortal king. And those brainless fools are fighting a war because of that. To make matters worse, a few gods and my nephew Achilles have gotten involved in this madness so I need to deal with this nuisance." Percy stated with a frustrated expression.
"Why don't you convince them to come to a settlement peacefully?" Damasen asked.
"Already tried that, it didn't work. So now I have to go and make sure none of the side effects of this impending war plague innocent civilians. And I also need to make sure that my family members don't rip apart each other's heads." Percy stated with a groan.
"Your job truly is a hard one Percy. But you will find a way to end this carnage. You always have." Damasen confidently stated.
"Maybe. But I have a bad feeling about this. I have this fear that this may devolve into something much more destructive." Percy stated with a distant look in his eyes. Damasen raised an eyebrow at this. Percy's intuition was uncannily prophetic.
"I am probably overthinking. It'll be fine. I'll take my leave Damasen. We shall meet again once I drill some sense into the heads of these vengeful mortals." Percy stated with his signature lop-sided smile and disappeared in a blue mist.
Damasen opened his eyes as he realised that was the last time he had spoken to Percy and Percy's intuition had proven to be right. With deep sorrow evident on his face, he went inside his house and he laid eyes on the flower vase gifted to him by Percy.
"You were a good man Perseus Diaboles. You made the world a better place and true to your nature, you kept your family safe. Whatever state you are in, I hope you finally found some peace." Damasen softly muttered before leaving to cook kelp soup, in memory of Percy.
Hey guys! So, this one-shot is not a very big one and that's solely because I want it to be short and to the point. And since these are one-shots, I don't want to add too many details, that won't make it any different from the stories. However, the other one-shots could be longer than or shorter than this one, depending on who of what we are dealing with.
In this one, I have just focused on Damasen and Percy chilling in Damasen's house which is in an undersea farmland through a flashback. And I would like to give a shout-out to Gabe1234 for this amazing idea!
Read and review, I hope that all of you enjoyed this one-shot! Have a fantastic day!